NetGalley: Small Spaces (Small Spaces #1) by Katherine Arden

Title: Small Spaces

Author: Katherin Arden

Published: Sept. 25, 2019

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Pages: 218

Review: ARC provided by publisher @ NetGalley

Buy Links: Amazon, Amazon.uk 

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn't think--she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with "the smiling man," a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.

Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she's been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn't have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: "Best get moving. At nightfall they'll come for the rest of you." Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie's previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.

Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver's warning. As the trio head out into the woods--bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them--the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: "Avoid large places. Keep to small."

And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.

We received this book via NetGalley to give an honest review.

This is one book I would like to see in our school library it had the right amount of scare to it. Ollie has lost her mother and she is dealing with it in her own way. She finds herself just wanting to be left alone and just read. When she takes a book from a woman who is trying to get rid of it by throwing it in water; Ollie's world will be turned upside down. The paranormal will makes its way into Ollie's life. 

I was really proud of Ollie who stood up for a person she didn't really like in her class, she knew it was the right thing to do. Even if she knew she would get into trouble. 

Yet, what she doesn't know is that she and this girl she sticks up for will find themselves saving their classmates (the bullies included). 

When the kids go on a field trip it will be more than they bargain for and it will be up to Ollie, in the end, to get everyone safely home. She has to remember "Avoid large places. Keep to small." Yet, she doesn't know what that means just that it is what she is told. 

I really loved how the author used her words to describe scenes and what Ollie was really trying to feel. She captured it so very well from the very beginning and I can imagine that a lot of kids will like that when they read it. 

K and I enjoyed it. He said he wouldn't look at scarecrows the same for a long time. I really can't blame him they were a bit creepy but just in the right way.

A note to everyone who trips and falls upon my Goodreads page. First, welcome. Let us read and discuss all the books together. Second, Goodreads is wondrous, but contacting me through my Goodreads DMs is a good way to ensure a long wait for a reply. Your best bet is Twitter or Instagram (arden_katherine) on both.

Happy reading.

Born in Texas, Katherine studied French and Russian at Middlebury College. She has lived abroad in France and in Moscow, among other places. She has also lived in Hawaii, where she wrote much of The Bear and the Nightingale. She currently lives in Vermont.